"The lack of fruit is not reflected in the prices; the supply is too atomised"

"It has been a disastrous year for the stone fruit of Extremadura due to the weather adversities. First, the excess of cold took a negative toll on the fruit setting, so we were already going to have less fruit in the trees, but then came frequent rains, frosts and hail that hit practically all of Extremadura's producing areas," says the producer and exporter. Only the productions of our partners in Seville and Huelva have been spared. They have managed to obtain good quality fruit," he said.

Therefore, despite the high growth potential of its productions, the Extremaduran company has lost about 50% of the fruit volume initially expected for this season. "A lot of fruit has gone directly to the processing industry for the production of juices, jams and compotes, since it cannot be sold fresh. It's a year to forget."

According to Emiliano Andrade, the prices have not reflected the product's scarcity despite the good demand. "The supply in this sector is too atomised. There are too many of us selling to the same clients and this ends up distorting the reality of the market. In a year like this, when there is a shortage of fruit, the prices paid would almost be more suited to a situation of oversupply."

"At the moment, there is a very strong demand for nectarines, but prices are not reflecting it, even though an important price differential has been recorded with respect to peaches due to the drop in terms of volume."

Regarding plums, one of the company's main products, the market is getting livelier after a very quiet period, which was due to marketers concentrating their sales in just a few weeks, as they do not have enough cold storage capacity.

 

"It is necessary to program the plum campaign extending the marketing calendar. That is why we have made important investments in the acquisition of state-of-the-art refrigeration chambers. With good production techniques and storage facilities, we can obtain plums with a long shelf life and export them to all corners of the world," says the entrepreneur.